Green Marketing or Greenwashing Essay Example
Green Marketing or Greenwashing Essay Example

Green Marketing or Greenwashing Essay Example

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  • Pages: 11 (3021 words)
  • Published: March 26, 2018
  • Type: Case Study
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Many companies took advantage of the market by using green marketing tactics to stand out and gain a competitive edge. Some genuinely embraced sustainability and implemented eco-friendly practices, while others engaged in greenwashing to improve their brand image. The term "greenmailing" was coined to describe these deceptive organizations.

In response, practitioners provided recommendations for consumers and organizations to identify misleading green marketing practices and promote change. Governments also released guidelines addressing this issue. BP and the Co-operative Group are two companies that heavily promoted their green initiatives, which will be assessed and compared in this paper.

The objective of this study is to differentiate between genuine green marketing and greenmailing, as well as raise consumer awareness. The dissertation's main title is "Green Marketing or Greenmailing: a critical view of organizational attitudes towards promoting their environmental initiatives."

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Table of Contents
Introduction
Research Questions

This research will compare and evaluate the green marketing efforts of two UK organizations, BP and the Co-operative Group, aiming to determine if their claims are valid or if they are simply engaging in greenmailing.

The study will examine the concepts and differences between green marketing and greenmailing. Green marketing involves activities that fulfill human needs while minimizing environmental impact (Polygons, 1994). It originated in the Monsoons but gained momentum in the 1960s with sustainability becoming popular among Baby Boomers (Ottoman, 2011). However, this also led to the emergence of greenmailing, where organizations promote minimal green initiatives (Nash, 2008). Despite this, many organizations actively highlight positive actions. Distinguishing between green marketing and greenmailing is challenging (Kilojoules, 1998), so organizations must provide evidence of environmental benefits to discerning consumers (Hager, 2008). The objective of this stud

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is to thoroughly investigate these two practices by analyzing BP and Co-operative Group's marketing methods for potential engagement in greenmailing. Ultimately, the research aims to raise consumer awareness about this ethical issue.The UK saw an 8.8% increase in spending on ethical products, from ?1 billion to ?1.8 billion, between 2010 and 2011, as stated by Smith (2011) [1]. According to The Ethical Consumerism Report 2011 published by The Co-operative Group [2], ethical spending has risen from ?0.5 billion to ?0.8 billion since 1999 (see figure 1 in appendix). In response to growing consumer demand for ethical goods, companies have started adapting their products and services to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly. However, some companies have opportunistically joined the "green" movement without fully committing to these initiatives [3]. As a result, they have gained advantages such as increased brand loyalty, higher stock prices, a unique selling point, a higher selling price, and the perception of being innovative [4]. These benefits give them an unfair competitive edge. Despite media coverage, consumers are often unaware of this unethical behavior by corporations which grants them too much power and fosters mistrust. This study aims to educate consumers about how they can be manipulated by companies posing as sustainable or green when many fail to deliver on their promises of environmental improvements.The text below has beenand unified while retaining the and their contents:

Introduction

The first section serves as the introduction, providing background information, presenting the problem, and outlining the research objectives and scope.

Literature Review

The following section is the literature review. It examines the main theories on green marketing and

greenwashing, distinguishing between them. This section will be divided into two parts to thoroughly examine each concept.

Methodology

The methodology section discusses the types of research used, their coverage, and any limitations.

Findings and Analysis

The findings and analysis section utilizes BP and the Co-operative Group as examples to explore the aspects discussed in the literature review. It also assesses the implementation of green marketing in both organizations.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The final section offers a conclusion and recommendations based on both the research conducted in the literature review section and findings presented in analysis.

In relation to green marketing, it has been defined as "an organization's efforts at designing, promoting, pricing, and distributing products that will not harm the environment" (Pride and Farrell, 1993). This definition differs from Poltroon's definition mentioned earlier in the background section because it emphasizes a reduction approach instead of minimal environmental impact. Practitioners in the marketing industry first became aware of green marketing when they observed a rise in green consumerism - an increase in consumers' concern for the environment (Grove and Kilojoules, 1994). This shift occurred during the 1990s. Green consumers are individuals who avoid products that may harm their health or the environment, consume excessive energy, generate significant waste, use materials from threatened species or environments, involve animal cruelty, or negatively impact other countries (Lexington, 1994, p.3).

Several factors contributed to the growth of green marketing. One significant factor was societal pressure to be environmentally conscious (Archie and McDougall,
1985), which was demonstrated by numerous celebrities switching to low-emission vehicles. Additionally,the availability of environmentally safe alternatives to everyday products and the

increasing popularity of environmental and social charities played a role (Strong,
1998).The growth of global communication and media coverage has been seen as a positive force in promoting green marketing. It allows people to expose environmentally damaging and unethical practices of companies, enabling them to voice their complaints and boycott products (Apatite, 1992). In response to increasing consumer pressure, companies have recognized the moral obligation to incorporate corporate social responsibilities (Keller, 1987). Many organizations have embraced these obligations as objectives and see green marketing as an opportunity to fulfill them (Shearer, 1990). According to Crisscross's (1992, p.177) perspective, this presents "perhaps the biggest opportunity for enterprise and invention the industrial world has ever seen."

To assess the effectiveness of green marketing efforts, practitioners in the field have established criteria that organizations must meet. Two commonly used sets of criteria are Parka's (2002) three ways and Grant's (2007) Five Xi's. Additionally, American and Australian guidelines are employed to evaluate if a company is involved in greenwashing practices (Parka, 2002; Grant, 2007).

Parka's (2002) criteria involve evaluating three areas of the business - value added processes, management systems, and products - with the aim of making them more sustainable. The focus is on making processes more environmentally friendly by redesigning or eliminating them—for example, updating machinery to use less energy.The management systems aim to minimize the environmental impact within working conditions by implementing health and safety care programs. The products side focuses on designing processes and products that are more environmentally friendly, such as making them recyclable. Once these changes are made, the company can be considered green and market itself as such. According to Grant (2007), green marketing is

a complex process involving five Xi's: Intuitive, Integration, Innovation, Inviting, and Informed. Intuitive means making the product accessible to users. Integration involves considering sustainability in relation to society, economy, and technology. Innovation requires creativity in creating new products or finding new uses for existing ones. Inviting means ensuring that people will actually use the product. Lastly, being Informed means helping people understand why the product is environmentally friendly.

In 1992, The National Association of Attorneys General (NAG) established guidelines to assist consumers in evaluating companies' green marketing practices. These guidelines aim to prevent greenmailing and are divided into four sections with various sub-sections providing detailed information about product disposal methods and promotion strategies. It is recommended that environmental claims be specific rather than using general or vague terminologyClaims should be realistic and align with current solid waste management options for the company. It is important for organizations to follow through on their advertised claims by recycling most, if not all, of their products. In 1992, the Australian Trade Practices Commission (TAP) released guidelines titled "Environmental Claims for Marketing - a Guideline" in response to green marketing issues in Australia. These guidelines consist of nine points with sub-sections that help scrutinize green claims. Many of these points are based on American guidelines. The points include using meaningful terms and pictures, stating clear and simple benefits, explaining beneficial product characteristics, making provable claims, detailing achieved benefits, allowing for negative product characteristics, using real differences in product characteristics, defining environmental endorsement scheme composition, and addressing other potential environmental questions mentioned within the document. These criteria aid individuals and organizations in assessing green marketing methods and determining their suitability in

order to mitigate harm caused by false green claims. The increase in demand for economically responsible products has resulted in a rise in both green marketing and greenmailing.(1995) argue that companies need to be more transparent and accountable in their green marketing claims. They suggest that businesses should undergo independent audits to verify their environmental practices and ensure they are not engaging in greenmailing. This would help restore trust and credibility in the marketplace, allowing consumers to make informed choices about which companies are truly committed to sustainability.

The concept of depth of greenness, proposed by (1995), categorizes companies into shallow, moderate, and deep groups. Shallow companies engage in greenmailing, moderate companies overstate their environmental credentials while meeting some objectives, and deep companies genuinely fulfill their claims. However, Kilojoules (1995) dismisses this concept and argues for a deeper understanding of ecologist and environmentalism to comprehend green distinctions.

In response to the rise of greenmailing, many companies have emerged with the purpose of identifying truly environmentally friendly ones. In 2007, North American company tetrachloride conducted a survey on 1,018 products and found that 1,753 made environmental claims. However, upon analysis, only one product was found to not employ misleading or false claims. To educate people about greenmailing and identify companies engaged in such practices, the six sins of greenness were created based on established patterns in these claims. These sins include the sin of hidden trade-off, no proof , vagueness , irrelevance , lesserof two evils ,and fibbing(Tetrachloride ,2007). The sin of hidden trade-offs misleads consumers by suggesting that a product is environmentally friendly based on a few attributes without considering actual environmental issues.
The text explores different forms

of greenwashing, deceitful tactics employed by companies to present themselves as environmentally conscious. An instance of this is the utilization of energy-efficient printers that are incompatible with recycled newspaper. The most frequently used form of deception is the sin of hidden trade-off (Tetrachloride, 2007). The sin of no proof occurs when companies make claims without providing substantial or easily accessible evidence to support them. Frequently, these assertions about recyclable materials turn out to be false. Another deceptive technique is the sin of vagueness, which aims to confuse consumers by offering poorly defined claims such as stating a product is environmentally friendly without specifying any details. Companies also employ the sin of irrelevance by making true environmental claims about their products that ultimately hold little importance. These sins serve as a comprehensive framework for analyzing and comprehending the misleading tactics utilized globally by companies involved in greenmailing (align="justify").

The passage discusses various instances of greenwashing – dishonest practices used by companies to portray themselves as eco-friendly. One example involves falsely claiming that products are free from Chlorofluorocarbons (CUFF), despite CUFF having been banned for three decades now. Another form of greenwashing known as the sin of the lesser evil uses environmental claims to divert consumers' attention away from more significant concerns; for example, marketing organic cigarettes while disregarding their health risksWhen organizations falsely claim to recycle, they are committing the sin of fibbing. Environments, however, takes a different approach by allowing consumers to expose greenwashing through platforms like the Greenmailing Index. Apatite and Crane have identified five types of greenwashing: Green spinning, Green selling, Green harvesting, Environment marketing, and Compliance marketing. The most common type is

green spinning where companies try to improve their image through PR without addressing their actual business practices. Green selling occurs when a company promotes the environmental credentials of its existing products to boost sales even though these claims may be unproven. On the other hand, green harvesting involves reducing costs through environmentally friendly initiatives like packaging reduction but not passing on these savings to customers. While environment marketing is generally seen as positive, it can become problematic if an organization does not fully commit or fails to share enough savings with consumers. Compliance marketing is a deceptive tactic where companies promote environmental initiatives that are only implemented due to governmental regulations such as reducing CO2 emissions for regulatory standards. The issue of greenmailing has garnered substantial interest from both marketing practitioners and the general public.It is crucial for individuals to approach green claims with an understanding of the concepts mentioned above. This study employed an exploratory research methodology, drawing from existing literature and evidence from reputable journalistic, practitioner, and government sources. The research focused on analyzing and comparing green marketing and greenmailing through real-life examples like BP and the CO-POP green initiatives. A qualitative analytical approach was used to describe and explain their relationship due to the extensive existing research available on the topic. Furthermore, there is a scarcity of quantitative data, particularly within the UK. Various secondary sources were utilized for this paper, including practitioner knowledge from sources such as Apatite, Bannered, Kilojoules, Nash, and Polygons. Newspaper articles were utilized to gather public opinions on taters while official company websites provided information on various green initiatives; these sources were deemed reliable. Throughout the research

process, several limitations were encountered.Despite attempts through various contact methods such as LinkedIn, emails, and leaving notes on official websites, securing interviews with industry practitioners or individuals working at BP and the CO-POP proved to be extremely difficult. Conducting questionnaires or surveys to obtain a comprehensive representation of the entire UK population would have been challenging due to time and cost constraints limiting the sample size. Access to reading materials also varied.

British Petroleum (BP) P.L.C was founded in 1908 when Anglo-Persian Oil discovered gas in Persia and became listed on the London stock market. It officially changed its name to British Petroleum Company in 1954. Specializing in finding, extracting, developing oil and gas, as well as producing and selling fuels and products, BP has recently shown interest in investing in renewable energy initiatives (BP, 2012).

Since its establishment, BP has experienced significant growth and currently operates in over 30 countries. In 2011 alone, its revenue surpassed that of many countries at IEEE ,044.72 million. This demonstrates the global influence of BP and raises concerns about potential environmental impacts if more environmentally friendly practices are not implemented.Given BP's history of ethical scrutiny, it is not surprising that it has been associated with greenwashing, serving as an example of how organizations present themselves as environmentally conscious. In an attempt to rebrand itself as "Beyond Petroleum", BP made a significant green marketing move in 2000. Costing around El 25 million, the campaign was organized by advertising firm Googol & Matter Worldwide (Ridgeway, 2010). The initiative aimed to promote the use of renewable energy sources. To further demonstrate their commitment, BP invested an additional EYE million to acquire Solar, becoming

the largest solar energy producer.

However, industry experts like Kenny Bruno criticized this move. They pointed out that compared to BP's other investments, such as the EYE billion acquisition of oil company ARCOS, the Solar investment was relatively insignificant. This act could be seen as an example of the six sins of greenwashing, specifically the hidden trade-off. While it appeared environmentally friendly on the surface, it had little impact within the organization and was used to mislead consumers into thinking BP had truly changed its market stance.

Furthermore, this could be seen as a case of green spinning.BP invested heavily in advertising and PR firms to create the perception of being environmentally conscious, but did not take any meaningful actions. According to Parka's (2002) criteria, they made minor changes to their value-added systems but did not change their management approach. In 2008, Greenback investigated BP's claims of investing in renewable energy sources and found that only 6.% of their investments were allocated to them. This suggests that BP's green marketing was simply greenmailing. Similarly, in 2006, BP claimed to have reduced CO emissions by 830 million tons, but they only considered the hydrocarbons they extracted without considering their impact on the world market (Lake, 2007). This lack of clarity can be categorized as vagueness. Applying Poltroons definition of green marketing, it is evident that BP engaged in greenmailing as they only changed how they presented data without actually impacting the environment. The public's opinion on BP's green claims can be seen through the Greenmailing Index which indicates suspicions or disbelief towards their claims (Greenmailing Index, 2012).In 2002, BP was recognized by the Greengage academy as winners of

the best greenness award. However, in 2008, Greenback awarded them with the Emerald Paintbrush award for worst greenness.

The Co-operative group, founded in 1844 with a small shop in Lancashire, operates under the rules set by the Recordable Pioneers Society (CO-POP, 2012). Currently, Co-pop has 4800 retail units and an annual turnover exceeding a billion. It is the largest food retailer and mutual business in the UK. Alongside its core retail operation, it has ventured into banking and farming (CO-POP, 2012). The Co-operative is praised for its ethical plan and is considered a prime example of effective green marketing tactics.

The Co-operative's Ethical Plan includes various eco-friendly initiatives. One notable commitment is the development of renewable energy sources. The Co-operative demonstrates strong dedication to this goal as 98% of its electricity consumption comes from renewable energy sources. Additionally, the Co-operative Bank has invested one billion in small-scale community projects related to renewable energy (CO-POP, 2012). Their next target is to generate 25% of their electricity needs through renewable sources by 2017.

It can be argued that the Co-operative's efforts are not simply greenwashing, as they demonstrate genuine and commendable examples of effective green marketing strategies. The Co-operative regularly releases information to track progress, showing their commitment to their objectives. They prioritize informing consumers about their green initiatives without relying on a large advertising budget. In addition, they have committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2020 and successfully decreased emissions by 35% in 2006. Their aim is to have no carbon emissions by 2014. Despite allegations of greenmailing when associated with Chevron, the Co-operative remains strongly committed to its objectives and easily meets green marketing

guidelines in America and Australia. According to Banshee's assessment, their claims align with deep greenness criteria. However, this circumstance occurred solely because CO-POP assumed control of Somerville, thereby obliging them to uphold the agreement made with Chevron.

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